Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

"NoDo” (north of downtown) is a neighborhood nickname (like New York City’s “SoHo” for “South of Houston Street") first used in Denver, Colorado, dating from about 1992. Omaha also claims a “NoDo,” as does Houston and—to a lesser extent—San Antonio. “NoDo” is pronounced like “no dough” and not “no do.”

Houston’s “NoDo” dates from at least 1998. According to a March 20, 1998 article in the Houston Chronicle, “NoDo” was coined by restaurant owner Cliver Berkman.

About.com: San AntonioCentral Loop - Downtown San Antonio
From Kori Ellis, for About.com
(...)
Central Loop Districts and Neighborhoods:
Alamo District
Central Business District
Convention Center District
Historic Civic District
Houston Street District
Lavaca
River North
King William Historic District
La Villita District
Market Square District
NoDo (Northside of Downtown)
River Bend District
Southtown
SoSo (South of Southtown)

21 September 1992, Denver (CO) Post, pg. 1C:
After “LoDo” and “NoDo” some people are starting to call downtown’s Market Street area “Mo-Do.”

The last time we looked around for restaurants that stayed up late to serve Houstonians after a concert, movie or arts performance, only a handful fit the bill.

But that was before a mini-explosion of new restaurants that cater to the after-theater crowd altered the late-night scene.

Many of the new eateries are located within walking distance of the downtown Theater District. Some restaurateurs are touting the area that stretches from Bayou Place to Market Square and encompasses the Theater District as NODO (North Downtown).

But there are also some new late-night options as well as some reliable old dining standards in ODO (our abbreviation for Outside Downtown).
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Clive’s the Grille, 517 Louisiana, offers a late-night menu and live jazz from 9:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday. The menu includes tapas, steak, chicken sandwiches, crab cakes, pasta, soups and salads.

Owner Clive Berkman inaugurated the late-night menu and added a jazz combo a few weeks ago to capitalize on the increased downtown activity. He also coined the phrase NODO for the area and brought in street musicians to play for tips.

Houston (TX) Chronicle (June 7, 1998)Downtown developers can look to Denver for inspiration
By RALPH BIVINS
Staff
DENVER - The LoDo section of downtown Denver - where old buildings have been transformed into lofts, hotels and restaurants - is having an influence on the rebirth of downtown Houston.

The pattern established in Denver could be repeated in Houston in more ways than just bricks and mortar - it could change the vocabulary of Houstonians.

Just as Denver residents have named their lower downtown district “LoDo,” Houstonians have begun to call part of downtown Houston “NoDo.”

NoDo - pronounced like “no dough” - stands for “North Downtown.”

NoDo includes the oldest parts of Houston and turn-of-the-century buildings along Buffalo Bayou. The Bayou Lofts, Hogg Palace Lofts and the Rice Hotel are located in Houston’s NoDo.

The boundaries of NoDo aren’t on any official map, but it’s basically everything north of Capitol and south of Buffalo Bayou.

There is no Deep Ellum (DALLAS), 6th Street (AUSTIN), South of Market (SAN FRANCISCO), NoDo-Market Square (HOUSTON) or Rush Street (CHICAGO).
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I’ll take Houston’s NoDo District for nighttime hanging out over the 3rd Street Prom. most evenings out of the year.

Houston (TX) Chronicle (September 10, 1998)
Dear Readers,
We love the new restaurants and clubs popping up downtown. But do we really have to refer to them as NoDo, for North Downtown? Sounds like someone who’s short of cash. We get it, it’s a takeoff on SoHo. But that’s so wannabe. Houston has its own style.

New York (NY) Times
AMERICAN CITIES; Downtown Houston Gets a Makeover
By RICK LYMAN
Published: May 16, 1999
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‘’Most of the people who haven’t been downtown for a year almost don’t recognize it,’’ said Rasheed Rafaey, owner of Tasca, one of the popular new restaurants in the northern end of downtown, which is known, inevitably, as NoDo. ‘’You had zero street traffic a year and a half ago after 6 P.M.’’

Houston (TX) PressNo EF-ing Way
An “EastDo” diehard goes to the (name)plate against the Astros
By Bob Burtman
Published: March 30, 2000
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The top of the Web home page now reads, “Welcome to the EastDo Fan Club.” (EastDo, short for “east downtown,” follows in the abbreviating tradition of the famed SoHo district of New York, and Denver’s NoDo.)

Houston (TX) PressDress to Be Repressed
Fashion Fascism
By Craig D. Lindsey
Published: July 20, 2000
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With new crowds discovering NoDo (north downtown) each week, these clubs seem to be holding on to their otherworldly hipness via dress codes.

Houston (TX) PressSame As It Never Was
A former Nightfly wanders north downtown Houston one last time
As told to Craig D. Lindsey
Published: February 9, 2006
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Anyone who read my columns back then will remember I had a bitch of a time doing this, especially as I often ventured to that brutally trendy part of town known as north downtown Houston (or NoDo, for all you Envy/002/PaperCity readers).

30 March 2006, Denver (CO) Post, “SoCo? NoDo? RiNo? They ain’t LoDo” by Elana Ashanti, pg. F1:
There’s also “NoDo,” for north downtown. That term surfaced almost two decades ago, before the city broke ground on Coors Field.

CNN.com - TravelHouston City Guide
POSTED: 9:01 a.m. EDT, October 4, 2006
(...)
BE SEEN: The heart of hip Houston is the area around Market Square, known as NoDo (North of Downtown), where Manhattan-wannabes can be found living in converted lofts, sipping coffees and hanging out in bars and galleries.

Houston (TX) PressA Modest Proposal: Train the Homeless to Be Better at Being Homeless
Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 01:51:26 PM
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Robb Walsh says:
You are on to something here, John.

But wait a minute, what part of town should be homeless headquarters? San Francisco’s homeless inhabit the Tenderloin. New York has Bowery bums. Seattle has Skid Row.

To be a world-class homeless city, I think Houston needs to get a world class urban planner to design a world class homeless district, give it a colorful name, and get a world class detective novelist (Kinky?) to make it famous.

To get the ball rolling, I’ll throw out a suggestion—What about changing the spelling of North of downtown’s nickname from Nodo to No-Dough?
Posted at: February 29, 2008 9:01 PM